the endings are the best part
by thewordsofalullaby
Summary: an alternative to the Jesse x Beca storyline in PP2 (minor spoilers; one-shot)


**I haven't watched PP2 so there are only minor spoilers in here. I just heard that Jesse had a storyline (based in LA?) that was cut out and, well, maybe it went something like this... **

**(Also, I'm sorry, this is very rough and - probably - very bad. It's been a while, over a year to be exact!)**

* * *

He gets the job.

She's not surprised, not at all. She knew he would get it; he's talented and this job is perfect for him. She's happy too, of course she is. If anything, she just feels a little _disorientated_ because now he's got concrete plans in LA, whilst she's still trying to figure out what she wants to do.

"You okay?"

She bites her lip, her eyes meeting his, and she mentally scolds herself for the fact that even though this is his moment, this is what he's been working towards his whole life, he's staring at her with concern in his eyes.

"I'm good," she replies, shaking her head slightly and forcing a smile onto her lips. "I'm proud of you, Jess," she tells him, "Really, I am."

Jesse grins at her, reaching forward to pull her against his chest, and she lets out a shaky breath against the material of his shirt.

The prospect of graduating, of having to find an actual real life job, is suddenly so real.

* * *

They don't speak about it.

She knows they should. She knows that they should address the fact that he's going to be in LA, and she's going to be…god knows where, but she also knows that if they do, anything could happen.

She hates to admit it, but she's not sure she can take that risk; not when she's spending all her hours trying to impress her boss at her (secret) internship and the girls are relying on her to help them rebuild their reputation.

She just can't.

* * *

It's a week before Christmas break when he decides to bring it up, completely out of the blue.

"Bec, can we talk?" He asks, though his eyes are fixed on his textbook when he says it. By this point, she knows him well enough to know that he's nervous; his left foot is twitching, and his ears are turning red. Still, she doesn't reply with words, just hums in response.

"You know how I'm…" he hesitates, still staring fixedly at his textbook, and she knows she should help him out but her mouth is suddenly very dry. "…how I'm supposed to be going to LA next year?"

She raises an eyebrow at his use of " _supposed_ ", and nods even though she knows he can't see her, waiting with bated breath for him to elaborate.

"They want me to start in two weeks," he says, running a hand through his hair as he slowly lifts his head to meet her gaze.

She blinks once, twice.

"That's…nice," she eventually replies, after he goes through all the technicalities involved. She doesn't really know what else to say; this is his dream job, and she's not about to tell him to turn it down and stay. She's not that selfish.

(She kind of wishes she was though.)

"Beca, look," he starts, but she just shakes her head and cuts him off, lowering her gaze so that now she's the one pretending to be reading her textbook. She hears him sigh heavily, closing his own book and moving so that he's sitting next to her. He wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in, and she buries her face into his side.

This is not how senior year was supposed to go.

* * *

It's snowing when he leaves for LA.

She doesn't know what's going to happen now, with _them_ , but she doesn't want to ask him either. Instead, she just smiles up at him because, yeah, despite everything, she's really, really happy for him and proud of what he's become.

"You okay?" he asks, as he always does, his hands moving to grip her hips.

"Yeah," she replies, leaning into his hold. "You better not forget about me when you're famous, weirdo," she jokes.

"Never," he promises, his brown eye sincere. "Besides," he continues, rambling in the way only Jesse can, "this isn't permanent. I'll be back for your birthday next month, and we'll Skype every day. I mean, there's a severe shortage of tiny, sarcastic brunettes in the world, you know. You're not going to be that easy to replace…"

"…Very funny," she interrupts, punching his chest gently as she rolls her eyes at him.

"I'm hilarious," he tells her. She rolls her eyes at him again, but stands on her tiptoes to pull his face down towards her nonetheless, holding him as tight as she can.

She hates goodbyes.

* * *

It's weird, talking to him over Skype.

She doesn't know why exactly, since it's not the first time they've ever spoken over Skype. It's just… she's stuck in college, trying to juggle essay deadlines, her (still secret) internship, and an impending a cappella competition. He, on the other hand, is all the way in LA, trying to juggle the demands of a _real_ job with _real_ responsibility.

"Get some sleep, Bec," he tells her one night, his eyes laced with concern as he takes in her exhausted appearance, "We can talk tomorrow."

She shakes her head, rubbing at her eyes a little. Yeah, she's tired, but she also knows that she doesn't want to go to sleep, not when Jesse is on her screen, hanging on to her every word. "No, I'm good," she replies, forcing a smile onto her face. "I'm just…stressed." She pauses momentarily, wondering whether he thinks her problems are silly and insignificant compared to his, and then immediately banishes the thought, feeling guilty for even thinking it. This is Jesse, after all.

"Bec?" Jesse prompts, a look of confusion on his face.

"Don't worry about it," she tells him, waving away her own issues. "Tell me about your day."

She smiles as he launches into a story, his enthusiasm for his work and life infectious. She's glad he's happy, she really is.

She just wishes he was here with her, that's all.

* * *

It's her birthday several weeks later.

She's not sure what she was expecting from the day, but waking up and finding herself tied to her own bed definitely exceeds all her expectations. She knows that the girls have been planning a (not so secret) secret party for her, but this? This is a little...extreme.

"Don't worry about it," Stacie tells the other Bellas, all of whom are currently sitting on her bedroom floor, clearly amused by the way Beca is cursing them all, her vocabulary getting more vivid by the second. "She's not going to escape, I've tested these ropes myself."

"How did you do that?" One of the new Bellas naively asks, only to be met with groans from the rest of the girls, and a wink from Stacie herself.

"Stacie, I swear to God, you better untie me soon," she warns, grimacing, shooting the girl in question a dirty look. "I promise I won't leave this room, if that's what you're worried about. Yeah, yeah, I know about the party you guys are planning."

Stacie just grins, shaking her head. "I'm not untying you, Beca," she replies. "Don't worry though, we've nearly gotten everything set up, we're just…waiting."

"For what?!"

The other girls just grin mischievously at her, and she curses herself for being so stupid. She knew they had been planning something crazy; all those unsubtle looks during rehearsal, all their attempts to keep her away from Amy who they all know can't keep a secret… She should have seen this coming.

"I hate you all, you know that?"

* * *

By the time they finally release her and lead her down the stairs, she's _really_ not in the mood to party.

That is, until she sees a certain someone standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. He's grinning, looking like there's nowhere else he'd rather be, and she just can't believe he's actually here. Sure, he had promised that he would be, but she knows how busy he's been lately and she wouldn't have held it against him if he hadn't shown up. His job is important to him, she gets that.

"Hey, weirdo," she greets him, nudging his shoulder as she grins right back at him, "I didn't think you were coming!"

"Well, the girls have been spamming my phone for weeks so…"

She laughs, standing on her tiptoes to press her lips against his, laughing even harder at the "One minute! They kissed in one minute! Who had one minute?" exclaim that she can hear behind her. Of _course_ the girls had put a bet on this, those idiots.

"Why did you think I wasn't coming?" Jesse asks later, when the party's died down a bit and it's just them outside, enjoying each other's company. "I mean, sure, the girls really wanted me to come…but I would have come regardless, you know that."

She doesn't reply, not really sure what to say, and she moves to bite her lip at the moment when he gets it.

"Bec, look," he starts, his hands moving to rest on her waist, pulling her closer, "I know it hasn't been easy these past few weeks, but you know I love you, right?"

She studies him, still biting her lip.

She's interrupted before she can reply.

* * *

 _I know you're probably sleeping right now… but call me when you wake up._

"Beca, what's wrong?" Jesse says, as soon as she picks up the phone, and she feels her eyes watering again when she hears his voice. "Hey, talk to me."

"I'm…" she pauses, taking a breath to steady herself, cursing herself for feeling so insecure, "I'm not good enough."

She hears him inhale disbelievingly, can almost picture him shaking his head at her. "Tell me what happened, Bec," he says, calmly, "Tell me everything."

She relays the whole story, and even though he hasn't said anything yet, just silently listening, she already feels a little better about the whole situation.

"You're good enough," he tells her once she's stopped speaking, cutting her off as she immediately starts to retort. "Beca, listen to me. You're good enough, okay? Sure, maybe he didn't like your demo but that's _one_ demo and _one_ person's opinion. Just keep going, and learn what you can from him. I mean, that's what this is all about, right? Getting experience."

"I guess…"

"Bec, you can do it," he says encouragingly, and she feels herself smiling softly despite everything, "I believe in you."

"I wish you were here," she blurts out in reply, feeling instantly selfish for admitting it out loud, but knowing that it's the truth.

"Yeah," he says slowly, after a pause. "Me too."

* * *

She doesn't talk to him much after that.

They're both ridiculously busy, her dealing with the impending World championships (those Germans are _good_ ), and him dealing with his never-ending work deadlines. They just don't find the time.

The girls notice too. She catches them having whispered conversations about it before, after and even during rehearsals, but she tries her best to ignore it. Jesse and her, they'll be okay. (She thinks.)

It's not until they're about to go on-stage for their performance at the Worlds' when she decides she can't ignore it anymore. Chloe's been hanging around her all day, getting even closer to her than usual, and it's more than a little unnerving.

"Okay, what's going on?" She finally asks, eyeing the redhead suspiciously.

"Chloe," she says firmly, as the girl simply shrugs her shoulders, pasting an innocent look on her face.

"Don't worry about it, Beca," Chloe tells her, patting her arm, her fingers lingering, as always. "It's all going to work out."

"You know that's just going to make me worry more!" She exclaims in response, grimacing as Chloe just grins disarmingly back, and the curtains go up.

 _Show time._

* * *

They're about a minute into their performance when Chloe whispers a "three o' clock" at her as they're swapping positions on stage. She blinks in surprise, nearly faltering in her step, but then subtly turns her head in the direction Chloe had indicated.

This time she does falter, but hopefully unnoticeable to anyone but the girls. Standing there, at exactly three o'clock from the stage, is Jesse, waving a huge American flag at her. It's a wonder, really, that she didn't spot him before.

They haven't spoken to each other for a while, and she's not really sure where things stand between them, but for now, he's grinning at her, and that's all that matters. Staring straight at him, she pumps her fist into the air in a gesture that only he would understand.

She grins, feeling happy for the first time in days.

* * *

It's not until much later when she actually manages to talk to him in person, fighting her way through the crowds of people to get to him. He's immediately wraps his arms around her, pressing his mouth firmly against hers.

"You were amazing, Bec," he tells her, as he releases her a little so that he can fully meet her gaze, "Really, really amazing."

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

She laughs as he picks her up and spins her around, mouthing "sorry!" to all the people he nearly hits. He's an idiot, but god, she's missed him.

* * *

It's early morning when they're finally by themselves again, all partied out.

He's lying on the hotel bed, his eyes closed, absentmindedly tracing patterns on her back as they start to exchange stories and catch up. "How's your internship going, by the way?"

"A lot better," she tells him, smiling as she recounts the story of how Emily and her recorded a song together, one that apparently had 'potential'.

"That's amazing, Beca! Why didn't you tell me?" He exclaims excitedly, grinning widely at her, and her heart swells at how he's almost more excited for this than he was when he landed himself his dream job. No, scratch that, he's _definitely_ more excited.

She doesn't reply though, not with words, because they both know the answer to his question; the two of them have been ridiculously busy, and they haven't had any time to just...talk lately.

"Don't go tomorrow," she tells him softly as they're about to fall asleep, even though they both know she's not going to stop him from doing so. Yeah, she misses him a lot, but she still wants him to pursue this job, his dream, despite the fact that it means that he's in LA.

"I've missed you," he says in reply. "Remember what I told you that night at aca-initiation?"

She lifts her head up from his chest, raising an eyebrow at him, remembering just how wasted he was that night. "Do _you_ remember?"

He laughs, a little embarrassed, but shakes off her comment. "We're inevitable, you and me," he tells her, his eyes earnest, and she knows that he truly believes what he's saying. "It doesn't matter whether you end up working for Residual Heat or on a different continent. We'll make it work, I promise."

She wants to believe him, she does. But honestly? Given the amount of time that they've actually spent talking to each other this past month, she's not so sure that they will.

* * *

Weirdly, it's Stacie, of all people, who she voices these concerns to first.

"Oh, come on, Beca," she says, disbelief clear in her voice, as she carefully files her nail down, "The boy is crazy about you."

"Yeah, I guess, but—"

"Do you love him?" She asks, stopping her actions to meet her gaze, waving the nail file in her direction.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"—Then that's all that matters," she tells her, before being interrupted by a text notification on her phone. "Sorry, Beca, I got to run. I know you're taken and everything, but some of us have needs that have to be satisfied, if you know what I mean."

She grimaces, nodding at Stacie's already retreating back. Maybe she was right, maybe that was all that mattered.

* * *

The day she graduates is the first day since he left for LA that she _knows_ she is going to see him.

She's not really sure how she feels about that though. If anything, he's been even busier since Worlds', and the distance between them is getting increasingly noticeable. She'll tell him a story, and then realise that he doesn't know about any of the events preceding it. He'll tell her a joke, and she won't entirely understand it. Plus, it doesn't help that she's been offered a job here, when he's still all the way in LA.

The thing is though, she _does_ love him, and she's still pretty sure he feels the same way about her.

"Ready to graduate?" she asks Chloe, shaking her head free from all her thoughts of Jesse. Chloe smiles at her, nodding, reaching up to help her adjust her gown.

"Let's go then."

* * *

It's funny, really, how things work.

Four years ago, she was dreading coming to this university and cursed her dad daily for it… but now here she is, standing at her own graduation, cheering as Amy bounds up to the stage a little too fast, trips, and then decides to just roll over to the podium. She's going to miss this place, these people, these girls.

"Bec, can we go somewhere to talk?" Jesse asks, finding her later after all has been said and done, and she's an actual university graduate.

She nods, feeling herself sober up quickly as he leads her away from the celebrations to their favourite spot on the quad. He sits on the grass, reaching out to pull her down beside him, not letting go of her hand once she's seated.

"What's up, weirdo?" she asks lightly, nudging his shoulder.

Jesse smiles in response, pressing a kiss onto her forehead. "I'm proud of you, Bec," he tells her, and even though she's heard the same five words from numerous people today, it means the most coming from him. "You made it."

They sit in silence for a while, just enjoying finally being in each other's presence, before he speaks up again, his voice a little hesitant.

"I quit my job," he says, and she whips her head around to stare at him, her mouth falling open in disbelief.

"Why the hell would you do that?" she exclaims, before lowering her voice again as she realises the unwanted attention she's just attracted. "I thought you were happy?"

He nods, shrugging his shoulders, his expression unreadable. "Yeah, I was," he says, "But I decided that there are more important things in life. Like you, for example."

She blinks once, twice. It's strange, but even though this is the one thing that she's been selfishly wishing for during these past few months, him actually doing it doesn't sit right with her at all.

"Are you kidding me? I swear to God, Jesse Swanson, if you quit your dream job because of _me_ then I'm literally going to—" She stops, eyeing him suspiciously, taking in the way his mouth is quirked up slightly, clearly amused by her reaction. "Okay, what's going on?" she asks, squinting at him, "Spill."

"I did quit my job," he tells her slowly, and she makes a noise of frustration because yeah, now she knows he's just trying to wind her up. "But… I'm not unemployed."

She raises an eyebrow at him, and he grins even wider.

"You know how I've been extra busy these past few weeks?" he asks, and she nods wordlessly, starting to get a feeling for exactly what he's trying to tell her but not wanting to jump the gun and be disappointed. "It wasn't because of work. Well, no, it sort of was, but not directly related to it, I guess—"

"—You're rambling," she tells him, but she can feel how excited he is, and she hopes that's a good thing. She watches him take a deep breath, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at his enthusiasm.

"My boss has connections and, well, I got a new job," he finally says, "Here."

She stares at him, eyes wide.

"Seriously?"

"When am I not serious?" he replies, and she rolls her eyes at him, punching his arm lightly. "I'm serious, Bec," he tells her, this time sincerely, and she can't help but grin widely in response. "I'm moving back."

It's not long before he's pulled her into his lap, his arms circling her waist as she presses her mouth firmly against his. This year's been hard, sure, but she's starting to think that maybe it was all worth it.

"So…what's going on here?" Amy says, as she suddenly sits herself right in front of them uninvited, her presence making the two of them spring apart. "You know, you two remind me of this YouTube video I saw once, of these two kangaroos really going at it—"

"—Us? What about you and Bumper?" she retorts, laughing as Jesse echoes her words behind her in obvious disbelief. With all that's been going on, she'd clearly forgotten to tell him about this development.

As the rest of the Bellas and Trebles surround them, both the new and old, she leans against Jesse's chest feeling unbelievably content with the way things worked out. If someone had told her four years ago that this was going to be her life, she would have laughed in their face. Now that she's actually here though, she wouldn't want it any other way.

"I told you we're inevitable," Jesse whispers, as the others start exchanging stories.

"You're _such_ a weirdo."

* * *

 **Again, I'm sorry if this is terrible... Like I said, I haven't watched PP2 and this is very, very rough. Don't be too harsh on me! :)**

 **(PS - If you got to the end of this and you're not too horrified by my ~writing, chapter 3 of " _to whom it may concern_ " is an accompanying fic to this.)**


End file.
